


Still Here

by stone_wolf_fountain (blackbones)



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Kissing, M/M, i'm new to this i don't know how to tag things, sort of love confession
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-24
Updated: 2016-08-24
Packaged: 2018-08-10 19:59:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7859095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackbones/pseuds/stone_wolf_fountain
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Reaper lures an old friend out to meet him. He didn't anticipate what would happen when he got there.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Still Here

**Author's Note:**

> Second finished Overwatch fic, this time Reaper76. It took me a few hours to get this one to come, but I like it enough to post it. Feedback is welcomed and appreciated.
> 
> And I have no idea how to make it do italics as of yet, so... yeah. Enjoy! :)

Hidden companion

Phantom be still in my heart

Make me a promise that

Time won't erase us

That we were not lost from the start.

 

Reaper watched as Soldier: 76 crept up to the old warehouse door. He’d caught wind of rumors saying Reaper had been seen there recently and wasted no time investigating.

The soldier slipped through the crack in the door, pausing to listen on the other side. Reaper ghosted around the building and using his wraith form to enter soundlessly through a broken window. By this time, 76 was leaning against an old crate, peering around it.

He was still so cautious.

The mercenary watched as his old friend padded into the circle of moonlight filtering down from the wounded roof. The sound of wood creaking made him freeze, rifle aimed into the darkness.

“I thought you were smart enough to realize this was a trap.”

Soldier: 76 straightened, finger taut on the trigger. “I guessed this was a trap. You’re never so careless.”

“I learned from the best.” Reaper stepped forward. Soldier: 76 cocked his head slightly, studying him. “Like what you see?”

“No. If you were going for a skeleton look, you missed.”

Reaper scowled. “It’s a barn owl. Why does everyone-- never mind. That doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is you and me.”

“Why am I so important to you? I’m just a soldier.”

“A soldier who’s caused me more pain than he can ever understand. Isn’t that right, Jack?”

The soldier’s fingers twitched, but that was the only indication that the name meant anything to him. “So you know who I am. Not terribly impressive.”

“It is if you know who I am.”

“You’re just a sociopath. You like the game and don’t care at all who you hurt to get what you want.”

Reaper stepped closer, amused to see the soldier’s muscles tighten under his coat. He was like a spring, wound tight and ready to fire.

“You’re right, I do. But you’re just the same as me. We’re both old men, wanting back what we never had in the first place. You’re the same as me, Jack, you just don’t want to admit it because you’re the angel, the one everyone looks to for leadership. You’re the good guy, and I’ve always been the bad.”

“You don’t know me. Don’t act like you know anything.”

“I know everything!” Reaper roared. His voice echoed off the rafters and metal walls, sending a chill down his own spine. “I was there, right beside you, through everything. We were inseparable, one never went anywhere without the other. But you let them take that away from us. Let them turn you into a ‘hero,’ used only as a face. You never took control, you wasted the potential of Overwatch so you could play Superman. I would have made a better leader. There wouldn’t be a second Omnic Crisis if they’d put me in charge.”

Jack’s shoulders went slack, his rifle nearly slipping from his hands. “Gabriel?”

“Gabriel is dead,” Reaper hissed. “He died with Overwatch and the man who I thought was my friend.”

“Let me see your face.”

Reaper was caught off guard. “What?”

“If you’re Gabriel, I want to see your face.”

“You can’t tell me--”

Jack’s hand shot forward, gripping the mask from underneath and tearing it away. It dropped from his fingers when he saw Gabriel’s face.

“Not so pretty, am I?”

Gabriel knew what his face looked like. An ugly mix of his old brown skin and the eerie pale of death, with pink scars tracing their way up and down what remained of living skin. One eye was a milky white while the other was a searing red, the white turned black. A black cloud of burning flesh escaped from his mouth, speckled with red embers.

“I-- I didn’t--”

“I don’t want your sympathy. It’s your fault I’m like this anyway. You come away from the explosion just fine, but here I am, a walking corpse. The Grim Reaper.” Anger wound itself tight in a knot in Gabe’s chest, making it hard for him to breathe.

“I’m not as untouched as you think I am,” Jack said. He set his gun down next to his feet. Then, he carefully removed his mask. Twin, milky eyes stared back at Gabriel.

Blind.

Jack was blind.

Thick scars crisscrossed over Jack’s face, turning what had once been handsome into something terrible to look at.

“I know it’s not near to what you lost, but don’t think you’re the only one hurt by what we did.”

“By what you did. I can’t be blamed for this. You took what was rightfully mine.”

“The title wasn’t yours. It was never going to be. You knew that.”

Reaper snarled. “Why should we protect Omnic? They’ve killed thousands of us. They’re just monsters.”

“Are we any better?” Jack asked, too calm. “We’ve killed just as many of them, maybe more. And you are more a monster than many of the Omnic I’ve met since we stopped the first Crisis.”

Gabe’s laugh was cold. “We wouldn’t be having a second if I’d been in charge. They would have been wiped out for good, every last one of them.”

Jack shook his head. “I don’t know you anymore. When we met all those years ago, you had seemed like someone who could make a good friend. A loyal one. Clearly you weren’t. Your mother failed to raise you into a proper human being.”

“Don’t bring my mother into this.” Gabe’s fist collided with Jack’s jaw. Jack staggered, bringing up his arms to defend himself against another blow.

“Why? Because you failed to protect her? Is that why you’re like this? Because you failed?” Jack was too calm. It only made Gabe angrier.

“Shut up. Shut up! Don’t pretend you know anything about me.”

“That’s the problem, Gabe. I know you better than you know yourself. And you’re scared of that. You’re scared that you’re not in control because if you’re not in control you can’t protect yourself. That you’re just another weakling.”

“SHUT UP!” Reaper’s voice cracked as he threw his fists at Jack, trying desperately to harm, to maim, to make Jack feel what he felt.

“That’s why you joined the program, so you wouldn’t be weak. You wanted to be the big guy because the big guys always picked on you, always pushed you around like you were nothing. Just because you were different, smaller, weaker.” Jack was unfazed by the punches bruising his arms.

“YOU DON’T KNOW ME! STOP TALKING!”

“See? You’re upset because you can’t make me do what you want. The only thing you know how to do is throw punches, how to be violent. You’re not strong enough to talk, to think. It makes you mad that you’re nothing like me.”

Jack’s back hit one of the stacks of crates. He caught Gabriel’s wrists, holding him tight.

“You don’t know me,” Gabe hissed. He hurt, deeper than any blade could reach. “I’m stronger than you. You don’t know what you are anymore. I know what I am. I’m the Reaper. The Grim Reaper. People fear me, they can’t stop me. I’m stronger than them.”

“No.” Jack’s voice was low, quiet. “You’re not strong. You’re not the Reaper. You’re not what you think you are... But I know what you are.”

Gabe leaned back, wanting to pull away, but he couldn’t find the strength. Something weighed his feet down. Jack’s sightless eyes stared up at him, without registering he was there.

“You’re Gabriel Reyes, my best friend. And I’m not going to give up on you. I know you’re still there, underneath everything you tell yourself you are. You’re still Gabe. And I still love you.”

Gabe’s eyes widened.

How-- How could Jack love him after everything he’d done?

“Come back with me, Gabe. We can fix this, we can fix you.”

“I don’t need fixing,” Gabe breathed. “I’m fine. I don’t need you. I never needed you.”

Maybe saying the words would make them true.

“Stop fighting me, Gabriel, please. You can’t fight forever, Gabe. No one can. Everyone has a breaking point.”

Gabriel shook his head. But he couldn’t speak. The words got caught behind the lump in his throat. He was pinned, between himself and the way Jack looked at him.

How? His mind wailed. How can you love me like this? When I’ve done nothing but hurt you?

Jack’s hand found the back of Gabe’s neck and pulled him closer. Their lips met almost violently. There was none of the softness Gabe had once imagined kissing Jack would involve. Instead, there were scars and teeth and the anger and hatred that had burned in both of them for so long.

Gabriel melted into it anyway. It wasn’t what he’d wanted, but it was what he needed.

His fingers dug into Jack’s coat, trying to ground himself. Jack’s arm tightened behind his neck, holding him closer. His other hand clung to Gabe’s hip like letting go would be the end of him.

The kiss was a dance, a fight. It was something they wanted and dreaded. It seared them, burned them where they touched. It took from them what they didn’t think they had and left them starving.

Finally, they parted, panting and wanting more. They stood, unable to string together a proper sentence, breathing each other in. There was still too much that needed to be said and not enough words to speak. Too much raw emotion and too many scars. Too much wanting and not enough to be given.

Gabriel’s comm stirred them from their reverie. It beeped, laying abandoned on the floor with Reaper’s mask.

“I need to go.” The words were rough in Gabriel’s throat. He pulled free of Jack’s grip to retrieve his fallen belongings.

“Where do we stand?”

Gabe paused, eyes on Jack. He still leaned against the crates, staring sightlessly at where he thought Gabe was.

“I don’t know. But don’t expect me to let you do that again.”

The mask returned to its place over Gabriel’s face, hiding him and once again returning him to Reaper. Without another word, he slipped from the warehouse, leaving Jack alone.

Jack waited, listening. When he was sure Reaper was gone, he found his mask lying on the ground and placed it back on his face. Then he picked up his gun and left the warehouse. Ana met him at the door.

She didn’t say a word as he passed, choosing to instead trail in his footsteps. They had walked several dozen meters from the warehouse, well beyond sight of it, when Jack stopped. 

“How long did you know?”

“I ran into him in Egypt a few months ago. I recognized his voice and the way he holds himself. He wasn’t happy about it.”

“He didn’t attack you?”

“How could he? I’m like a second mother to him.” She was quiet for a moment, watching Jack, who was staring at the stars. “He’s still in there, Jack. He just needs help. He needs you.”

Jack turned to face her. “Why are you so convinced he needs me?”

“How could I think otherwise? The way he used to look at you, the way he spoke with you tonight, how he touched you.” Jack stiffened. “You mean more to him than even he realizes.”

“Are you sure we can help him?”

Ana tipped her head back, studying the full moon. “We have to believe we can. Otherwise, we’ll lose him the same way we lost Amelie. And I don’t think I can stand to lose another family member.”

Jack looked up as well. The moon stared back at them, bright and uncaring to the struggles of the beings who held it in such high regard. As cold as the sun was warm. Jack wondered if it was a hidden metaphor for something.

 

Every night, I dream you're still here.

The ghost by my side, so perfectly clear.

When I awake, you'll disappear,

Back to the shadows

With all I hold dear.


End file.
